Eakaza to grow rice locally

EAKAZA Ghana Limited, a major importer of rice in Ghana, is preparing seriously to go into local rice production to meet demand.

Having realised the need to assist government to ensure trade balance for economic development, the company has decided to acquire a vast tract of land for rice production to also help stabilise the nation's currency.

According to him, the company initiated plans to undertake a huge rice cultivation programme in the Eastern Region as a way of promoting food security.

"We went out to get the land to start the project. But right form the onset we faced major opposition from the local rice farmers who thought we had come there to deprive them of their ends.

They were not happy because when they saw a white man coming into rice cultivation, they knew it was a big company which had the intention of depriving them of their ends meat. The backbiting then began and things turned worse for us.

We lost a lot of investments in trying to make the project successful until we had a hint from one of our workers about the negative things that were going on against us', he lamented.

But the company is undeterred, with plans far advanced to go into effective rice production, establish a rice processing plant and vegetable oil production plant in Ghana to ensure quality food delivery in the market.

Speaking to The Statesman , the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Khaled Saleh Said described Ghana"s rice market as very competitive with lots of companies importing rice at very cheap rates.

'What is worrying is the high rate of rice smuggling into the country. This forces genuine companies to reduce their prices to attract buyers'.

According to him, the difference between Eakaza and other rice importers 'is that our products are uniquely different and delicious even without perfume elements.

Examples of our quality brands include African Queen, Golden Rice among others' he added.

Research has shown that some unscrupulous business people re-bag or repackage poor quality rice into bags for distribution and marketing for more profits.

 This has posed a great threat to certain brands imported by Eakaza and a challenge to the Management of the company to secure the total trust of consumers.

As a result, Eakaza is in talks with the various security agencies and the Food and Drugs Board to trace and arrest the delinquents from their hideouts to save people from buying sub standard commodities.

Mr Said government's recent mitigation measures on commodity tariffs greatly affected their operations since they had already imported the products before the initiative was implemented.

 'As a result everything came down and we had to cut down the already imported goods'.

However, he was of the opinion that it would be prudent if government could maintain the current tax rate on commodities or reduce it further to make the market more competitive.

Since its inception a few years ago, Eakaza Company has been engaged in distribution of cereals and other commodities, while encouraging farmers to add value to made in Ghana products.

 It has also been engaged in manufacturing, distribution and provision of service in some key sectors of the country's economy.

The serene atmosphere created for businesses development has extremely culminated in the quick growth and expansion of many companies in Ghana. This is what attracted Eakaza to do business in Ghana, according to its management.